Manchester City's manager Mark Hughes has stressed he was unconcerned with defensive frailties and the lack of potency from his strikers after watching his team lose 3-2 to Rangers in last night's friendly. City were noticeably shaky in defence but Hughes said that would not intensify his search for a centre-half. "It is more about working with the back four and midfielders as a unit," he said.

"That opportunity has really only come up now because Richard Dunne missed a week's training. We have got to bed down the pairings, it is a week on Saturday that we think about, not this evening."

Hughes could offer no update on City's protracted chase for Everton's Joleon Lescott but the manager backed his forwards, who have failed to find the net throughout the pre-season.

Emmanuel Adebayor and Robinho both played in Glasgow. "Ideally you want them to get off the mark because it is important for their confidence but you can see there is good movement, good interplay between them," Hughes said. "We have good options up front, there is no concern for me at all. If we play the way that we can do, we will win more games than we'll lose.

"There have been a lot of changes throughout the club, at all levels, sometimes it takes time to settle down. I am pleased with how pre-season has gone, we are not too bothered about the results."

Hughes restated that Carlos Tevez, currently sidelined with a heel problem, should not join up with Argentina for their friendly with Russia next week. "Going to the international game would be crazy so we hope common sense is shown."